Date joined etsy - 12/14/06
Sales to date - 948
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.thanks for inviting me to be a part of this!
my given name is Julie Ashton, but I go by "bug" or "j-bug"
I live in a rugged little valley in Southern Oregon but in the
past 5 years I have lived in New Mexico and Georgia.
I am crazy for dancing, especially to funk, hip hop and 80's music.
I have designed costumes for an avant garde theater group,
lived in Bali, I am an unabashed bird nut and my boyfriend is an herbalist.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
An average day usually it starts with a strong cup of Joe and some
news/weather net surfing. I then try to remember all of the jewelry ideas I
had while negotiating the tumble into slumber and hopefully jot them down.
Then over to Etsy, answer convo's and get to shipping if I was lucky enough
to sell some stuff. Then I finally get cracking at the chaotic
jewelry bench also known as my muse.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
Yeah, I loved to draw/paint when I was younger. I started hanging out at
the local Art Museum and was mentored by an accomplished local artist who really
helped me in finding and believing in my artistic voice. I was accepted
at some prominent Art Schools but bagged on that opportunity and
backpacked around Europe instead. I still really regret that decision.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
Ebay was pretty much the only other venue and well...
I actually did pretty well selling there but its less than ideal.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
Thats a good question, I had to go look up the date of my first sale.
17 days... Etsy was so different back then.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
foods:
chocolate
wine
tamales
anything fresh from the garden
yogurt
tv:
30 rock
project runway
no reservations
colbert report
deadwood
bands/music:
i just found "the xx" and am really loving them and
laura veirs new album is awesome.
I am a big lover of Ambient/Electronic but I mostly
listen to KCRW out of Los Angeles.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
heck ya! there are so so many things. millinery, screen printing, wood working,
pottery, beekeeping, cobbling!
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
#1 Provide excellent customer service! Make your customer feel special, like you
made your craft/piece just for them. So many of my sales are from repeat
customers. I am so not motivated by the social networking thing.
I have had some good success advertising on Craft Cult. I was on the Front Page
a couple of times last week (after at least a year of not making an appearance there)
and the runoff from that is just unbelievable. One of my goals for this year is to
become faithful to maintaining a blog and start doing give away promotions.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Just 3? really! I was just looking through my
favorites the other day and thinking about how
many incredible artisans/shops there are on Etsy
and how cool it is to be a part of that.
i just love all of the color & texture here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaTouchables
http://www.etsy.com/shop/leahgiberson
http://www.etsy.com/shop/redyellowandblueink
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is 1300.
--Have a successful etsy shop and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
